FBI Investigating Albuquerque Police Shooting Of Camper

The FBI has opened an investigation into the recent police shooting of James Boyd, a homeless camper, as he appeared to be surrendering.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The FBI has opened an investigation into the recent police shooting of a homeless camper as he appeared to be surrendering, officials said Friday.

It is the first confirmed criminal investigation of Albuquerque police by federal officials, who more than a year ago launched a civil rights probe of the department over allegations of excessive force and a spike in police shootings. Since 2010, police have been involved in 37 shootings, 23 of them fatal.

In a statement, the FBI said it will investigate the fatal March 16 shooting to "assure the public that a thorough and fair investigation will be conducted."

Community leader Ralph Arellanes hailed the announcement, but he said it was "long overdue."

"This was something that caught the attention of the world," Arellanes, director of the League of United Latin American Citizens' New Mexico chapter and a member of the city's police oversight task force, said in reference to video of the shooting that was posted on numerous websites. "It's a tremendous injustice. A tremendous tragedy. And I also think there are more cases that (the U.S. Department of Justice) needs to refer for criminal proceedings."

Albuquerque police fatally shot James Boyd, 38, in the Sandia foothills following an hours-long standoff and after he threatened to kill officers with a small knife, authorities said. He died after officers fired stun guns, bean bags and six live rounds, authorities said.

But a helmet-camera video showed Boyd, who claimed to be a federal agent, agreeing to walk down the mountain with them, gathering his things and taking a step toward officers just before they fired.

Just hours after hundreds took to the streets Tuesday night to protest that shooting, Albuquerque police shot and killed a 30-year-old man at a public housing complex after authorities said he opened fire on officers.

The next day, Department of Justice officials investigating the Albuquerque Police Department met with community members who have complained about a culture of abuse at the police department and a lack of independent review of shootings by officers. At that meeting, officials indicated they have referred some of the cases to criminal investigators, Arellanes said. But he said they declined to say which cases or how many.

Arellanes said he was "very, very happy" to hear that one of those cases was the Boyd shooting.

Earlier this week, New Mexico Attorney General Gary King said he also plans a probe of the most recent shootings.

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An officer in Baltimore City was charged with animal cruelty after allegedly slitting the throat of Nala (pictured with owner), a pet who had escaped from her home.
Nala had nipped at a woman's hand earlier in the day, but even that woman was horrified by officers' treatment of the dog. She noted that Nala was not aggressive, but had bitten her only "out of fear."
Click here to read the whole story.

In April 2012, an officer in Sulphur, Louisiana approached two men on trespassing charges and, while apprehending them, tied one of the men's dog to a nearby fence.
A third party witness at the scene said that the dog was rubbing up against the officer, who was petting him, but then "all of a sudden, he just jumped down and shot the dog in the head."
The officer later claimed the dog had bitten him, but both the witness and the dog's owner say that's not true.
Click here to read the whole story.

FILE - This July 5, 2011 file still frame from security camera video, released May 7, 2012, by the Orange County District Attorney, shows an altercation between Fullerton police officers and Kelly Thomas at the Fullerton, Calif., bus depot. Thomas died days later. Two officers, Manuel Ramos, and Jay Ciccinelli, are on trial charges related to his death. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Orange County District Attorney, File)

Oscar Grant was shot by a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer early on New Year's Day 2009 in Oakland, Calif. Cellphone footage shows BART cops struggling with Grant and forcing him to lay facedown on the platform after reports of a fight on the train. Officer Johannes Mehserle was seen shooting Grant in the back once, killing him. He was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter, but acquitted of second degree murder.

In one of the most notorious cases of police brutality, a bystander recorded four Los Angeles Police Department officers beating Rodney King with their batons in 1991 after they pulled him over for driving erratically. When the videotape emerged days later of the attack, the four cops were charged with assault. A jury acquitted them, sparking riots in April 1992 that killed 55 people and led to 12,000 arrests over seven days.

Off-duty Chicago police officer Anthony Abbate was sentenced to two years probation and anger management classes after being captured on video beating a female bartender in 2007.

Chicago police officer William Cozzi was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison after he was caught on camera in 2005 handcuffing a man to a wheelchair and beating him in a hospital. Cozzi claimed the victim -- a man who was seeking treatment for stab wounds -- had attacked him.

A New York City police officer was acquitted of assault and harassment after being videotaped knocking over cyclist Christopher Long during a "Critical Mass" bike ride through Times Square in 2008. Patrick Pogan resigned from the police force and was found guilty of filing false documents after video emerged that contradicted his claim that Long swerved into him.

Ahmed Amadou Diallo, 22, seen here in an undated photo, was gunned down at his home in the Bronx borough of New York early Thursday morning, Feb. 4, 1999. Four white police officers from the elite Street Crime Unit fired 41 shots at Diallo, a black West African immigrant who had no police record and was unarmed. Diallo was hit 19 times and died instantly. The officers' lawyer says Diallo gestured with his hands, leading the police to think he was reaching for a gun.

Abner Loiuma became a symbol of unchecked police force after the Haitian immigrant was sodomized with a broomstick by cops in a New York City police station in 1997. The officer responsible for the attack, Justin Volpe, was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

London newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson died after police officer Simon Harwood hit him with a baton and knocked him to the ground as he walked away from police during a G-20 protest in 2009. Harwood will stand trial in October for manslaughter, according to The Guardian.

Michael Mineo accused an NYPD cop of sodomizing him with a baton after getting busted for smoking marijuana at a Brooklyn subway station in October 2008. A jury cleared the officer accused in the attack as well as two others charged with covering up the alleged assault.

In this May 24, 2010 file photo, former Chicago Police commander Jon Burge departs the federal building in Chicago. Burge, whose name has become synonymous with police brutality and abuse of power in Chicago, was convicted in 2010 of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying in a civil suit when he said he'd never witnessed or participated in the torture of suspects.

The trial is underway for four New Orleans police officers accused of killing two people and wounding four others in the shooting on the Danziger Bridge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The suspects, pictured left to right, are Robert Faulcon Jr., Robert Gisevius Jr., Kenneth Bowen, and Anthony Villavaso II.

Security cameras in a Manhattan apartment building recorded NYPD officer David London hitting Iraq war veteran Walter Harvin almost 20 times with a baton even after he had handcuffed him. The incident began when Harvin entered the building without a key and refused to identify himself to London. Footage shows Harvin shoved London, but the cop lied to investigators by claiming that he'd been punched before retaliating with his baton. A jury acquitted London of assault and making false statements in 2010.

Eleanor Bumpurs, a 66-year-old African American woman, was killed by NYPD officers who were trying to evict her from her Bronx public housing apartment in 1984 for falling behind on her rent. City housing authority workers called in the cops, because they claimed that Bumpurs -- shown in an undated photo -- was mentally ill and that she menaced them with a knife while refusing to vacate her home. The officer who shot Bumpers twice with a shotgun was acquitted in 1987.

The 2006 shooting of 23-year-old Sean Bell raised questions in New York City about the NYPD's use of excessive force. On what would have been his wedding day, Bell was shot and killed by police in a hail of 50 bullets outside a strip club in Queens. Officers said they thought the victim and his friends, who were celebrating Bell's bachelor party, were planning on retrieving a gun from their vehicle when they opened fire. After months of protests around the city, Officers Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper were acquitted in 2008.